


Snow angels

by spockside



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: 12 Days Of Avengers 2012, Christmas, Friendship, Gen, Wartime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 22:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockside/pseuds/spockside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is dragged out of bed in the wee hours to discover that old Saint Nick has visited the camp a couple of days early, thanks to a timely delivery from home and a visit from Peggy Carter.</p><p>Fluff, fluff, nothing but fluff. For the 12 Days of Avengers 2012 collection on <a href="http://avengersblend.livejournal.com/">avengersblend.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow angels

Steve Rogers was having a dream - or a nightmare.  
  
"Hey, Steve! Wake up, ya punk!"  
  
This less than civilized form of reveille was accompanied by the pummeling of fists, all over his heavily-swathed body. There were no sounds of mobilization or enemy fire through the knit hat pulled down over his head, so he rolled onto his face and growled at his assailant.  
  
"Uh-uh, I don't think so," said the voice. "Up you get, Rogers, or I'll dump you on your ass."  
  
"You and whose army," Steve mumbled as loudly as possible. He recognized the voice now, and if anyone could roust him out on a frozen day in a war zone, it would be Bucky. Bucky should know better by now, though, so Steve remained wrapped and warm and impervious to the thumping of his anatomy.  
  
The thumping stopped and Steve smirked to himself, an expression replaced by one of dismay and a yell of, "What the hell!" as he was, indeed, tipped off his cot and onto the rock hard dirt floor of his tent.  
  
He squirmed to sit up, wrestling the covers off his face, and was greeted by a roar of laughter from the crew of lunatics recently dubbed the Howling Commandos. Dum-Dum was standing over him, apparently the one responsible for Steve's tumble, and Bucky, Dernier, and Gabe were all crowded together behind the big man.  
  
"This had better be an emergency," Steve grumbled. "Or your gooses are gonna be the ones cooked for dinner."  
  
"Merry Christmas, sourpuss," said Bucky.  
  
Steve groaned. "Check your calendar, it's only the 21st. Wake me up when Santa Claus gets here. In four days."  
  
He struggled to stand in the two layers of clothing and two extra blankets he'd slept in, gave up and heaved himself up to sit on the cot, wary of another assault.  
  
"It's not even light out," he grumbled.  
  
The four others looked at each other and Dum-Dum shrugged.  
  
"I could carry him," he said. "Might be fun to parade through camp..."  
  
"All right, all right, already!"  
  
Steve struggled out of the two blankets and shuddered as the cold air came closer to his skin. Bucky grinned.  
  
"You won't be sorry," he said and led the way out of the tent.  
  
There was snow around the perimeter of the camp and on the trees of the forest nearby; the ground between the tents had been trampled and muddied and strewn with pebbles to make it more slip-proof. Steve fell in behind Dernier, covering a yawn to keep the warm air to himself, then stopped stock still, staring.  
  
There was a Jeep parked, motor running, lights off, something bulky piled in the back, making a black shadow of a hump against the lighter background of snow. Someone had cranked up a generator in the big tent and there was light shining out of the single flap. People were moving back and forth, unloading whatever was in the Jeep and bringing it into the tent.  
  
"What's this?" Steve wondered.  
  
"Father Christmas," said Falworth, who had just joined the growing group of onlookers. "Better early than never. Come on, lads."  
  
They all went over to help unload, Dum-Dum heaving the biggest sack over his shoulder and booming, "Ho, ho, ho!" to the heckling of the other early risers. Steve took a sack and ducked into the big tent and saw a couple of bundled-up figures opening the sacks and laying out the contents on tables. There was candy, fruitcake, packs of cigarettes, paperback books, rolls of socks, and shoeboxes wrapped in brown paper for various individuals. More goodies emerged as Steve watched.  
  
One of the people laying out goods turned and saw him.  
  
"Captain," said Peggy Carter. "Happy Christmas."  
  
Her cheeks were red from the cold, but her eyes sparkled and her smile was wide.  
  
"Same to you, Agent Carter," he said. "Are you one of Santa's elves this year?"  
  
"You could say that," she laughed. "Come see me later, I have something for you."  
  
Steve tried very hard not to read too much into that.  
  
Once the merriment began, everyone got their boxes from home, and those who didn't have one got at least two or three things from the piles of other items. By the time the sun was fully up there had been an announcement that Christmas dinner would be served that evening, and most of the men had dispersed to their tents to take their leisure.  
  
Steve saw that Bucky had a new pack of cards, a fruitcake, and a couple of cigars, and he left his friend jawing with the Commandos and went looking for Agent Carter. He found her walking along the edge of camp closest to the trees, her eyes scanning the landscape as if looking for something.  
  
"Agent Carter," said Steve, grinning. "Looking for reindeer tracks?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Looking for a clean spot," she replied, and when he looked puzzled, she said, "You'll see."  
  
They trudged along, comfortably silent, until she stopped and nodded her head.  
  
"Right here," she said. "This will do quite nicely."  
  
"Quite - ?"  
  
He gaped as she turned to face him, took a step back and flopped down in the snow, which was a good couple of feet deep. Then she started to move her arms and legs and Steve caught on.  
  
"Snow angels!" he laughed. "I haven't made a snow angel in - well, too long, I guess. That's gonna be a beauty."  
  
"Come on, then," she said, with a grin that was part joyful and part sheepish. "Don't just stand there gawking."  
  
Steve shuffled sideways, gauging how much room he'd need, then turned and dropped down beside her. His angel was going to be enormous, he thought, remembering the pint-sized impression he'd made as a child.  
  
When Peggy was done, she very carefully levered herself up out of the snow and stepped forward, turning to look at her work. She smiled to herself and started shaking snow out of her cuffs and hair, then looked over at Steve and burst out laughing.  
  
"Hey," he protested feebly, then lost out to his own hilarity. He stopped moving and said to Peggy, "Now, this is the part I always had trouble with."  
  
"Getting up without ruining the angel? That is a tricky business," she said sympathetically.  
  
"Bucky used to haul me out," Steve said, gazing at the watery blue sky. "With one hand."  
  
"Shall I go get him, then?" Peggy made as if to go, then stopped, grinning, when Steve looked alarmed.  
  
"No, I think - we can handle it," he said, sitting up carefully.  
  
"Give me your hands," said Peggy, leaning in.  
  
"You can't lift me."  
  
"I'm not planning to. Give me your hands. Now, keep your feet where they are, and bend your knees, shift your weight forward. I'll steady you and watch that you don't step in the wrong place."  
  
Steve followed her orders and managed to keep his hands and backside from marring the outline of his angel. He was in a squat, beginning to rise, when he realized that his face was about two inches from Peggy's, the warm fog of their breath mingling. He didn't dare look right at her, but he could smell coffee and damp clothing and whatever she used on her hair.  
  
If he lost his balance, it wasn't going to be from clumsiness.   
  
Fortunately, he straightened up and stepped out of his artwork with no further incident and turned to look down at what he'd made.  
  
"Wow. That is the biggest damn snow angel I have ever seen."  
  
"Mine looks like a child next to yours."  
  
Steve figured that even as an adult, before the serum, his would have been even smaller than Peggy's, but he didn't want to mention it, so he turned and started brushing snow off his companion.  
  
"You don't have to do that," she said hastily.  
  
"If we both go back covered in snow, they'll think we've been - well - " Steve wasn't sure he should - or could! - finish that thought. He kept brushing at her coat with his gloved hand.  
  
Peggy laughed again. "Having a roll in the snow? Good Lord, is that all soldiers think about? Even in the dead of winter in a frozen encampment?"  
  
Steve was glad his face couldn't get any redder. "I couldn't say, ma'am. Not about you, anyway. I mean, they wouldn't dare think about you in - that way."  
  
She turned to give him a mock-exasperated look, then started to brush him off as well.  
  
"Although it's a good way to keep warm," Steve went on. "Thinking - warm thoughts. You know."  
  
The patter of her hands over his backside turned briefly to something like a smack.  
  
"There we are," she said. Putting her arm through his, she looked down at the angels once more, and they stood for a few minutes, thinking their own thoughts.  
  
Then Steve smiled down at Peggy and said, "Fancy some egg nog, Agent Carter?"  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot," she said suddenly. Rummaging in her pockets, she produced a shiny flask with S.G.R. engraved on it. "Howard sends this, with his best wishes."  
  
"It's full," Steve said, shaking it, then opening it and sniffing. "Rum, I think."  
  
"Goes well with egg nog."  
  
"True. Want to try it straight first?"  
  
He offered her the flask and she took a small sip, closing her eyes and savoring it.  
  
"Oh, that warms me right up."  
  
Steve took a swig, knowing that whatever Howard sent had to be top-notch, and sighed appreciatively.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Captain," said Peggy as he stowed the flask and gave her his arm again.  
  
"Merry Christmas," Steve murmured. He wondered whether he could find some mistletoe among all those care packages.


End file.
